Two years ago, a small town in Changhua started to grow healthy rice. The healthy rice was not grown by farmers but by the students from a small primary school of only about fifty people.

    The idea of growing rice came from the school teachers. When making teaching plans, the teachers decided to teach students how to grow healthy rice on school land. They wanted the students to get closer to the land when doing the rice farming outside the classroom.

What's better, the school made money from selling the rice and giving farming classes to the public. With the money, the school could help the students who wished to go to foreign countries some day. Today the dream is becoming real — the students are flying to Japan to share their special farming experiences, and have fun over there, of course! “We all feel very proud that even students from a small town can make themselves seen in the world,” said one of the teachers.

    We often see top students around us and everyone knows about them. Let us take Jenny as an example. She is the monitor of our class. She spends a lot of time working for our class. But she always gets good grades in all subjects. How do students like Jenny do that? When I asked her, she said, "Hard work is not the whole story. It's not how long you sit at the desk with your books open. It's what you do as you are sitting." In fact, we can see many top students spend fewer hours on their studies than their classmates. Jenny gave me some valuable suggestions.

    If your math teacher gives you five problems, you should do six. If your Chinese teacher gives eight pages of reading, you should read nine. The more you practice, the more you learn.

    Studying is a matter of your personal interest, so choose the way you are most comfortable with. Some people like working at night when the house is quiet, while others like doing their work early in the morning. However, others like studying as soon asthey arrive home from school while the work is fresh in their minds. No matter which way suits you, try to do your best.

    Studying is your business and the business comes before entertainment(娱乐). When you are studying, phone calls should go unanswered, TV shows unwatched, snacks given up. Studying is the only thing in your mind. Nothing can pull your attention away from what you are studying.

    Studying is like eating. You should eat a little at a time. You can plan what to do today, but don't do too much. When you can't finish the work you planned to do, you will feel stressed and may lose confidence. On the other hand, you will not study well without a good plan. It all de pends on how you manage your time.

    The students who hand in a clearly written paper are already half way to get an A.. Tidy papers are likely to get higher marks than messy ones. When you write clearly and do your work carefully, the thoughts in your mind are clear. You can avoid making more mistakes.

    While the rest of the city is crowded and noisy, several old men are sitting in their ancient hutong, drinking tea and playing chess. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Beijing hutongs have a very special place in the rich history of Beijing. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    According to experts, the word hutong comes from the Mongolian language, meaning "well( 井 )". In ancient times, people preferred to gather and live around wells. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} There are other explanations, too. No matter what hutong exactly means, it is commonly agreed that hutongs first appeared in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . Nobody knows exactly how many hutongs there are in Beijing today. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    Look around when you're on a subway. What is the most popular time-killing (消磨时间的) activity? In China, most people play on their smart phone. While in other countries, people often enjoy reading.

    On average (平均), each Chinese person read less than eight books in 2018, according to a recent survey from the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication. But Chinese people ①/spend/________ an average of 26 minutes on WeChat Reading every day.

    ②在许多西方国家，人们在任何时间都会阅读。Even backpackers (背包客) enjoy reading books when they are having a break at the beach or relaxing from a hike. Reading books builds a bridge ③/ bɪˈtwiːn/________ our lives and the unknown world.

    Many hotels abroad also offer book-exchanges for visitors. Simply drop off your finished books and take those ones that other people left behind.

    In most US middle schools, teachers give students a reading list every few weeks. ④Most books are easy to read, so students won't lose their confidence of reading.

    Good reading habits lead you to a lifelong love of books. In order to encourage people to read more. China is planning to foster (培养) the habits of reading in its law, Although this has both good and bad sides, ⑤________.

    Last week Lu visited England. He stayed with my grandmother. He said it was a strange visit. "I don't understand, but I frightened(害怕) your grandmother a lot. When I arrived, I gave her a purse from Zhengzhou, she looked in it and asked me to take it back.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Do English people like spiders?"

    "Later we went shopping. Someone was painting a shop front, so there was a ladder(梯子).Grandmother stopped me from walking under it and said I must walk around it. I liked the shops and bought some lovely rose soap(肥皂) for my mother, a smart umbrella for my father and some new shoes for myself.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Your grandmother came in and screamed(尖叫) !"

    "Then I broke a small mirror in the bathroom.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}I felt very sorry. When I left I gave your grandmother some flowers. She counted and there were 13. She didn't like it.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}"I explained to Lu, "My grandmother follows the old customs(习俗). You must not give someone an empty purse or they will have no money. You must not kill a money spider or the same will happen. Also it is very unlucky to walk under a ladder and to put new shoes on the table. An open umbrella in a house means someone will die. Breaking a mirror brings seven years' bad luck, and 13 is also a very unlucky number.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}."